3 ex-brgy workers accused of ‘falsifying’ official receipts

CEBU, Philippines —  The barangay captain and council of Luz, Cebu City yesterday, July 27, 2023, filed a case before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas against three former barangay workers for issuing allegedly overpriced permits.

The council, led by Barangay Captain Renato Labrador, alleged that former barangay treasurer Joel M. Cabatas, former barangay secretary Eldebrian D. Arañez, and Administrative Clerk Baby A. Lavides committed malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents; malversation of public property; frauds against the public treasury and similar offenses; and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

According to the complaint, the three workers issued  Official Receipts (OR) in which the duplicates reflected different amounts and were filled up by a different person, as compared to the original OR in the barangay.

“Ang official receipts man gud is handled by… duty and obligated nga mugunit gyud aning mga official receipts sa barangay is the treasurer not the barangay kapitan. Everytime naay mo-transact sa barangay the treasurer will be the one signing and will have knowledge of the particular transaction," said Atty. Jonathan Clarus, during a press conference.

"Now diri na, ang scheme nigawas kay wala gyud nila gi-inform si kapitan…ilang gi-blind si kapitan ug ang tibuok konseho. Ang Barangay Luz ilang gi-blind. Pamaagi sa ilang pag-falsify, gipakita nga naay transaction tinuod pero ang transaction is for P50 only not P3,000,” he added.

In an affidavit, Monocrete Construction Philippines Inc. said it paid P3,000 for a Barangay Permit, as shown in the OR. The duplicate OR, however, showed that only P50 was paid.

The duplicate OR also showed a different payee, not Monocrete.

The original ORs were also filled up by Arañez but showed different signatures.

On May 28, 2023, Joshua Merto of Monocrete Construction Philippines Inc. (or Johndorf Ventures Corporation) came to the barangay to secure a permit for drainage tapping.

The barangay assessed Merto with P1,000 for the permit— the highest fee the barangay is collecting for barangay permits.

However, Merto told the barangay that Cabatas previously assessed him with P3,000 instead of P1,000  for the permit.

Merto also met Arañez and paid P3,000 and met at a different place to get the ORs.

On April 27, 2023, the barangay council fired the three barangay workers the scheme was discovered during a fact-finding investigation.

“Former Barangay Treasurer Joel M. Cabatas has consistently assured the Barangay that he has been filing the financial transaction documents to the City Accountant; however, we recently discovered that said former treasurer has not been filing the financial transactions from the time he took office on November, 2021,” read a portion of the complaint affidavit.

Barangay Auditor Renan Segales said P145,270 in barangay revenue has not been deposited from January 2021 to April 2023.

In particular, of the P1,538,450 collection in 2021, only P1,441,390 was deposited in the bank; of the P1,692,850 in 2022, only P1,652,640 was deposited; and of the 1,299,410 collection from January to April this year, only P1,291,410 reached the bank.

The barangay officials advised the more than 1,000 business firms within Luz's jurisdiction to reach out to them if they were similarly victimized.

“Kung naa silay official receipts nga ilang nadawat sa ilang mga kamot tungod sa paglukat nila og barangay clearance for business permit, unta maka-provide sila og copy namo para among matandi sa amoang stub, sa amoang official receipts kung mao ba gyud. Kay ang kalisdanan man gud ini na ang official receipts, ang original gi-detached kay ihatag man nato during the transaction," said Barangay Councilor Antonio Ventura.

"Ang mahabilin ang duplicate ug ang triplicate copy, so di mi ka compare kung unsa ka genuine ang transaction nga nabutang labi ba na sa hisgutan sa amount of money ng gibayran. So kung maka provide, maayo unta, para among ma verify,” he added.  — Kristin De Dios, CNU Intern, RHM (FREEMAN)